Historical

The Writing on the Wall

5 King Belshazzar gave a big banquet for 1,000 royal guests. And he drank wine with them. ² As Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave an order to his servants. He told them to bring the gold and silver cups that his ancestor Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem. King Belshazzar wanted his royal guests to drink from those cups. He also wanted his wives and his slave women to drink from them. ³ So they brought the gold cups. They had been taken from the Temple of God in Jerusalem. And the king and his royal guests, his wives and his slave women drank from them. ⁴ As they were drinking, they praised their gods. Those gods were made from gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone.

⁵ Then suddenly a person’s hand appeared. The fingers wrote words on the plaster on the wall. This was near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote.

⁶ King Belshazzar was very frightened. His face turned white, and his knees knocked together. He could not stand up because his legs were too weak. ⁷ The king called for the magicians and wise men to be brought to him. He said to the wise men of Babylon, “I will give a reward to anyone who can read this writing and explain it. I will give him purple clothes fit for a king. I will put a gold chain around his neck. And I will make him the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”

⁸ So all the king’s wise men came in. But they could not read the writing. And they could not tell the king what it meant. ⁹ King Belshazzar became even more afraid. His face became even whiter. His royal guests were confused.

¹⁰ Then the king’s mother came into the banquet room. She had heard the voices of the king and his royal guests. She said, “My king, live forever! Don’t be afraid! Don’t let your face be white with fear! ¹¹ There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the days of your father, this man showed understanding, knowledge and wisdom. He was like the gods in these things. Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, put this man in charge of all the wise men. He ruled over all the fortune-tellers, magicians and wise men. ¹² The man I am talking about is named Daniel. The king gave him the name Belteshazzar. He was very wise, and he had knowledge and understanding. He could explain dreams and secrets. He could answer very hard problems. Call for Daniel. He will tell you what the writing on the wall means.”

¹³ So they brought Daniel to the king. The king said to him, “Is your name Daniel? Are you one of the captives my father the king brought from Judah? ¹⁴ I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you. And I have heard that you are very wise and have knowledge and understanding. ¹⁵ The wise men and magicians were brought to me to read this writing on the wall. I wanted those men to explain to me what it means. But they could not explain it. ¹⁶ I have heard that you are able to explain what things mean. And you can find the answers to hard problems. Read this writing on the wall and explain it to me. If you can, I will give you purple clothes fit for a king. And I will put a gold chain around your neck. And you will become the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”

¹⁷ Then Daniel answered the king, “You may keep your gifts for yourself. Or you may give those rewards to someone else. I will read the writing on the wall for you. And I will explain to you what it means.

¹⁸ “My king, the Most High God made your father Nebuchadnezzar a great, important and powerful king. ¹⁹ God made him very important. So all the people, nations and those who spoke every language were very afraid of Nebuchadnezzar. If he wanted a person to die, he put that person to death. And if he wanted a person to live, he let that person live. If he wanted to promote a person, he promoted him. And if he wanted a person to be unimportant, he made him unimportant.

²⁰ “But Nebuchadnezzar became too proud and stubborn. So he was taken off his royal throne. His glory was taken away. ²¹ Then Nebuchadnezzar was forced away from people. His mind became like the mind of an animal. He lived with the wild donkeys and was fed grass like an ox. He became wet with dew. These things happened to him until he learned his lesson: The Most High God rules over the kingdoms of men. And the Most High God sets anyone he wants over those kingdoms.

²² “But, Belshazzar, you already knew these things. You are a descendant of Nebuchadnezzar. But still you have not been sorry for what you have done. ²³ Instead, you have turned against the Lord of heaven. You ordered the drinking cups from the Temple of the Lord to be brought to you. Then you and your royal guests drank wine from them. Your wives and your slave women also drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood and stone. They are not really gods. They cannot see or hear or understand anything. But you did not honor God. He is the One who has power over your life and everything you do. ²⁴ So God sent the hand that wrote on the wall.

²⁵ “These are the words that were written on the wall: ‘Mene, mene, tekel, parsin.’

²⁶ “This is what these words mean: Mene: God has counted the days until your kingdom will end. ²⁷ Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found not good enough. ²⁸ Parsin: Your kingdom is being divided. It will be given to the Medes and the Persians.”

²⁹ Then Belshazzar gave an order for Daniel to be dressed in purple clothes. A gold chain was put around his neck. And he was announced to be the third highest ruler in the kingdom. ³⁰ That very same night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonian people, was killed. ³¹ A man named Darius the Mede became the new king. Darius was 62 years old.

Daniel and the Lions

6 Darius thought it would be a good idea to choose 120 governors. They would rule through all of his kingdom. ² And he chose three men as supervisors over those 120 governors. Daniel was one of these three supervisors. The king set up these men so that he would not be cheated. ³ Daniel showed that he could do the work better than the other supervisors and the governors. Because of this, the king planned to put Daniel in charge of the whole kingdom. ⁴ So the other supervisors and the governors tried to find reasons to accuse Daniel. But he went on doing the business of the government. And they could not find anything wrong with him. So they could not accuse him of doing anything wrong. Daniel was trustworthy. He was not lazy and did not cheat the king. ⁵ Finally these men said, “We will never find any reason to accuse Daniel. But we must find something to complain about. It will have to be about the law of his God.”

⁶ So the supervisors and the governors went as a group to the king. They said: “King Darius, live forever! ⁷ The supervisors, assistant governors, governors, the people who advise you and the captains of the soldiers have all agreed on something. We think the king should make this law that everyone would have to obey: No one should pray to any god or man except to you, our king. This should be done for the next 30 days. Anyone who doesn’t obey will be thrown into the lions’ den. ⁸ Now, our king, make the law. Write it down so it cannot be changed. The laws of the Medes and Persians cannot be canceled.” ⁹ So King Darius made the law and had it written.

¹⁰ When Daniel heard that the new law had been written, he went to his house. He went to his upstairs room. The windows of that room opened toward Jerusalem. Three times each day Daniel got down on his knees and prayed. He prayed and thanked God, just as he always had done.

¹¹ Then those men went as a group and found Daniel. They saw him praying and asking God for help. ¹² So they went to the king. They talked to him about the law he had made. They said, “Didn’t you write a law that says no one may pray to any god or man except you, our king? Doesn’t it say that anyone who disobeys during the next 30 days will be thrown into the lions’ den?”

The king answered, “Yes, I wrote that law. And the laws of the Medes and Persians cannot be canceled.”

¹³ Then those men spoke to the king. They said, “Daniel is one of the captives from Judah. And he is not paying attention to the law you wrote. Daniel still prays to his God three times every day.” ¹⁴ The king became very upset when he heard this. He decided he had to save Daniel. He worked until sunset trying to think of a way to save him.

¹⁵ Then those men went as a group to the king. They said, “Remember, our king, the law of the Medes and Persians. It says that no law or command given by the king can be changed.”

¹⁶ So King Darius gave the order. They brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “May the God you serve all the time save you!” ¹⁷ A big stone was brought. It was put over the opening of the lions’ den. Then the king used his signet ring to put his special seal on the rock. And he used the rings of his royal officers to put their seals on the rock also. This showed that no one could move that rock and bring Daniel out. ¹⁸ Then King Darius went back to his palace. He did not eat that night. He did not have any entertainment brought to entertain him. And he could not sleep.

¹⁹ The next morning King Darius got up at dawn. He hurried to the lions’ den. ²⁰ As he came near the den, he was worried. He called out to Daniel. He said, “Daniel, servant of the living God! Has your God that you always worship been able to save you from the lions?”

²¹ Daniel answered, “My king, live forever! ²² My God sent his angel to close the lions’ mouths. They have not hurt me, because my God knows I am innocent. I never did anything wrong to you, my king.”

²³ King Darius was very happy. He told his servants to lift Daniel out of the lions’ den. So they lifted him out and did not find any injury on him. This was because Daniel had trusted in his God.

²⁴ Then the king gave a command. The men who had accused Daniel were brought to the lions’ den and thrown into it. Their wives and children were also thrown into it. The lions grabbed them before they hit the floor of the den. And the lions crushed their bones.

²⁵ Then King Darius wrote a letter. It was to all people and all nations, to those who spoke every language in the world:

²⁸ So Daniel was successful during the time that Darius was king. This was also the time that Cyrus the Persian was king.